bettysgirl

I'm just back in town and am pleased that this letter suits some of you. By all means, please feel free to use as much/little of it as you want. My objective is to spread the word in any way possible. It certainly cannot hurt. I will start by sending to my elected representatives, at all levels, up to and including the President. I am also working on a letter that I will send to media types such as Oprah, Ellen, etc, to see if we can't get them to talk about this on their shows. The time is right for this, I think. Thanks for your support.

This is my first pass at a letter I will send out to my elected officials. I am off for the next few days but will finalize and start e-mailing it next week. Any feedback is appreciated. I'm new at this but I am so ready to take this on. Thanks for your time. Dear _________________ I lost both of my parents to lung cancer. My father died when he was 63. He died a smoker. My mother died six months after being diagnosed. She had not smoked in over 20 years. Both of my parents began smoking when they were children. That’s how it is. Few adults start smoking. Children start smoking, become addicted and then become adults who smoke. Tobacco companies are providing children with a product that they are likely to become addicted to, and that is likely to kill them as adults. It is time that we hold tobacco companies accountable for the disease and death that their products cause. For too long we have been silent about it as though we are ashamed. Ashamed that we bought what tobacco companies are selling. Even for those who decide, once they are adults, that they must quit, the damage is often done. It is time that we issue a cease and desist order to the tobacco companies. And it is time that we demand adequate funding for early detection and better treatment for the disease. It is unacceptable to me that I lost both of my parents so early. Unacceptable that I lost my opera partner, my shopping buddy and the person that I called whenever I needed someone to talk to. It is unacceptable to me that I lost my parents solely because we refuse to make the tough decision and end the production and sale of tobacco products. That is all that it would take to eliminate tens of thousands of deaths each year. Some will argue that this approach would result in the loss of many jobs in the tobacco industry. I would submit that our legislators have had little qualms with the loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector with the approval of NAFTA, CAFTA and similar “free trade” agreements. So our economy would adjust to this as well. I would like to request that you promote and support legislation that will increase funding and research for early detection of lung cancer. As the single biggest cause of cancer deaths in our country this disease should receive a proportionate share of funding, education and promotion. And while not all lung cancer is tobacco-related, the majority of the cases are. Therefore I would like to request that you promote legislation that works towards ending the production and sale of tobacco products. Thank you for your attention to this matter, My name a grieving daughter and a member of the Lung Cancer Support Community

I just joined this lc support community and am extremely excited to know that I am not alone in my outrage against the tobacco companies and our elected representatives for continuing to pander to them. Let's face it. Contributions from tobacco to politicians has to be huge. Hard to counter that with the logic of "doing the right thing", but it's time we start pressing our representatives to take away the tobacco companies' right to kill. I lost both parents to lung cancer. Both started smoking when they were children. That's how it is. Adults don't typically start smoking. Children do. Tobacco companies continue to market their product to children in the hopes that they will become addicted, which they do. This is unacceptable. The lack of empathy for those afflicted is unacceptable. For those who smoked, it is not their fault for getting sick. They simply used a product, legally, exactly as it was designed to be used. The fault lies squarely with a system that allows this. It is unacceptable to me. This doesn't even address those of us who have never smoked but who are likely at risk. My health is jeopordized by exposure to second-hand smoke, which tobacco companies refuse to acknowledge as an issue. Again....unacceptable to me. Excuse my rantings, but it feels good to vent at last. It's been almost a year since I lost my mom. For the first time I am beginning to feel like I can take some control. I will start by composing a letter which I plan to send to my elected representatives. I'll also send to televisions stations and anyone else I can think of. I want to see the end of tobacco sales. I also want to see money spent developing and promoting early detection for lc. Ridiculous that this has not happened. I want us to do for lung cancer what women did for breast cancer. Thanks for listening.

Hello, I have no idea how to do this. I hope this message makes it to someone. I have now lost both of my parents to lung cancer. My mother died last October after a six month battle with non-small cell lung cancer. My heart is broken. My objective now is to join with others to raise awareness of this disease and pursue the development of early detection methods. This was very successfully accomplished for breast cancer. With the recent media attention because of Peter Jennings and Dana Reeve I think the time is right. I'm not sure exactly how to do this but thought I'd see if there is interest out there. I feel such a need to take action. Thanks for listening.